Closed Loop Cooking Weekly Newsletter 2.3.23

February 3rd, 2023Hi friends,Infinite appreciation for the warm welcome back into y’alls inbox. Thank you for showing up to this space and reminding me how meaningful this work is <3

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Celebrating Tu Bishvat this weekend, in what one could argue should be a High Holiday. Honoring the birthday of trees in the Jewish tradition connects us back to the land, in ritual we can all take note of. We’re reminded of our roles as environmental stewards, eating seasonal fruits and nuts to usher in the longer days. But what does mindful stewardship look like just out of a zoom stupor? Is the need to touch dirt everyday enough to validate eco-safekeeping? The holiday is a low-impact occasion to remind us that, regardless of our immediate proximity to plants, we are all arboreal. Related to the trees and impactful, even in our smallest efforts, pine cone jelly memes included.I’m curious what stewardship looks like to you in 2023–send over your personal definition to share out!

and, as always,

Stay hungry,Hawnuh Lee | Founder, Closed Loop Cooking

Tu Bishvat, retooled. // @hawnuhlee

The dish >>

• Creating new ritual around the Jewish holiday, Tu Bishvat, this weekend. Required reading for contemporary takes on what traditional celebration looks like. (Salal berry syrup recipe included!)“...There’s a tradition of making new traditions within Judaism — of figuring out what works in the places we happen to be now. In my mind, that evolution is one of the most important parts of being Jewish. There are other advantages to building our relationships with the land through the lens of our spiritual practices.”

• Ecosystem maximalism aka what is Goblincore?

• Marianna Fierro sharing her path towards full time food illustration in this latest interview. Forever fangirling for a fellow inky foodie.

• Eyeing this hot cocoa with a black sesame twist recipe from Rooted Fare.

• More comfort eats with a wintry, parsnip + sweet potato mac n cheese, please.

• Virtual brunch chillas and coffee with Ojaswe + Good Juju March 11th.

• Clean house (kitchen) = clean mind and comic musings. 

Guests on this land. 

Thinking about evolving holiday traditions, we're sharing out a few excerpts from Thursday Bram' and Meli Sameh's Tu Bishvat zine–Guests on this land–celebrating local, Indigenous fare to inspire new ritual.Tu Bishvat presents a special opportunity to live our values. The holiday gives us an opportunity to reconnect with the cycles of nature, to celebrate trees, to see the spring sap rising for ourselves. Why, then, should we focus on trees in a land far away? The norm is to discuss fruits grown in Israel, even to the point of shipping in fruits that are out of season where we are. Why do we contribute to climate change on the holiday where we are best equipped to discuss it? Evolving these traditions is important. It's a step towards repairing a hole in our relationship with the lands we live on. Tu Bishvat is a chance to deepen our sense of 'hereness' — of doykeit.

Living in the Pacific Northwest offers connections with trees, animals, and lives far beyond what our ancestors dreamed in their far away homes. This place was not empty, though: there are forest gardens here that show thousands of years of care and relationships with the tribes that still steward their future. The rhythms of the year are reflected in the trees here, as well as in the lives of Indigenous residents and settlers alike. This zine is our contribution towards a shared future, focused on where we can improve our connections to the land as Jewish settlers. Please consider this zine a starting point: as we learn more and build stronger connections, we expect these ideas to evolve. 

יצירה

Yetzirah — Formation — Seeded

salal berries

salal-ulali

The evergreen shrub Gaultheria shallon, commonly known as salal, is another common food of indigenous tribes of the Pacific Northwest. The salal fruits are used as a flavor agent or sweetener, including sometimes dried and mixed with other berries for eating in the off-season. The plant’s leaves can be used for flavor or medicine as well. The branches are used as an ornamental in floristry. A common shrub in the forest understory, the plant survives so well it is even considered invasive in some places. But the fruit itself is fragile and can be difficult to harvest at peak ripeness.

Consider using another type of berry as a substiute for salal berries. Since Shvat in the Pacific Northwest is still winter, choose a frozen, dried, or otherwise preserved cultivated berries. Avoid fresh berries flown across the world as potential substitutes.

A doykeit of the Pacific Northwest

I am a guest on the lands of the Chinook, the Clackamas, and many other tribes. I have lived here for many years and I consider this place my home — but I am still a guest.

I don't have an age-old connection to this land, but that is only part of why I consider myself a guest. The other half of the equation is that I am Jewish. I live in the Diaspora — just like my parents and my grandparents and my great-grandparents, I expect to always live in a place where I am not the majority or Indigenous or able to claim more than a few generations' connection. Place is important to me, but I struggle to think of any land as explicitly mine. So I am a guest.

I want to be a good guest. But where do I even start?...

Even if we are relatively new to an area, on the scale of generations, we need to attach ourselves to the places we live, planting deep roots that bind our futures together. We may be transplanted in the future, but we cannot grow without our own ties to the land. Just as Ashkenazim created a Judaism specific to Northern and Eastern Europe, just as the Bene Israel created a Judaism specific to India, so too do we need a Judaism for the Pacific Northwest.

The traditional stewards of the lands on which we are guests are the Indigenous people who have lived here since time immemorial. As we face climate change, we need a return to stewardship by communities with long memories of this place and commitments to restore the land's health. The rest of us can help, but without the knowledge of the ecosystems that flourished before colonization, we're likely to do harm as often as good.Our call to action is this: Become a good guest on this land. Follow the leadership of the land herself, and the people who have cared for this land for thousands of years. Build your own connections with the place you live in. Stand in solidarity with that land's Indigenous people in meaningful ways.

Regardless your religious or cultural affiliation, we can use the occasion to consider our local reach. Read the full piece and download for free here.

In lieu of zine payment, consider donating to one of the following groups:  

Chinook Indian NationReal Rent Duwamish Seeding Justice

Newsletter read nibblin' tahini trail mix cookies, crumbs in bed.

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Have an idea we should feature in the newsletter? Want to work with us? Drop a line at [email protected]. We can’t wait to see what y’all cook up next! #closedloopcooking